In the Shadow of the Stacks

Hear from attorney Jim Pew, who has worked for more than a decade to clean up coal plants, and two Pennsylvanians—Marti Blake and Martin Garrigan—who know firsthand what it means to live in the shadow of a smokestack and the specter of a plume.

Coal-fired power plants are the nation's worst toxic air polluters. The pollution from these plants have serious impacts on health—including causing premature death.

Hear from attorney Jim Pew, who has worked for more than a decade to clean up coal plants, and two Pennsylvanians—Marti Blake and Martin Garrigan—who know firsthand what it means to live in the shadow of a smokestack and the specter of a plume.

Today, Blake, Garrigan and all neighbors of coal-fired power plants across the country can breathe a little easier. After more than a decade of pressure from Earthjustice and other groups, the Environmental Protection Agency has finally imposed limits on the amount of air toxics such as mercury and arsenic that coal-fired power plants can emit into our lungs. It's a historic moment for clean air in America and an essential provision for affected communities all around the country.

Every time you blow out a candle, every time you blow a bubble, you declare the right to breathe. Air pollution threatens that right. The Clean Air Act defends it. Everyone has the right to breathe. Clean air should be a fundamental right. Watch the Right to Breathe video.